CHAPTER 016: Fresh Air And Wrong Hana

 

Two minutes left, you think. Just two minutes.

       "I don't accept late projects or homework. Unless, you have a very important reason and even then, I might question you," Mr.Nam continues, "No fighting, that's my second rule. You fight or argue and that's a whole week in detention and also a whole week staying after school and cleaning the classroom. Do you understand?"     The students all agree with a loud yes.           "Detention will be in this classroom, too. I am a very strict teacher when it comes to homework and projects, trust me on this. Do you all understand now?"   Another yes from the students.    It's almost time, you begin to say in your head, counting the seconds.   You look at your watch and bite your lip. You can't wait to get out of here.    3...   2...   1...   The bell rings.        "Lunch time!" Mr. Nam says and you're the first one up from your seat. Everyone does the same and as you're about to exit with the rest of the class, a big hand grabs the bottom of your blazer and pulls you back.         "Where are you going?" Kris asks, pulling you to him.   You glare at him for what seems like an eternity.        "Lunch," you say afterwards, dryly.    Kris frowns at the stern and angry tone you use.        "You're mad at me, aren't you?" He says.    You roll your eyes, "What do you think?"   Kris let's go off you. He's a bit hurt about your sudden behavior because it seems like you're serious, which you are. After all the time he has spent teasing you and purposely hurting your feelings, the real reaction finally comes out and he is in shocked at how much he doesn't like it. He thought seeing you angry was his passion but it turns out it's the opposite.         "Are you guys having a couple's quarrel in the classroom?" Eunsul comes out all of a sudden. She has a cheeky grin on her face.    You flush red, "We're not a couple!" And then you walk away.      Kris watches you storm out with a frown, "Where are you going, Hana?!"   Eunsul chuckles, "Cute, you guys are a cute couple."   Kris glares at her, "I don't like her." And then he leaves, too.   Eunsul sighs, "It was just a joke..."         *****************************       You follow the rest of the students towards the cafeteria. Everything seems fine until you realize that you have no friends and that everyone is glancing at you, even when you're standing in the doorway like a sculpture.        "Babe, you're gonna move or what?" A boy says behind you and you don't need to turn around to know who it is.    Sehun is annoying. He has always been that way.    You move out of the doorway and let him pass and the boy sends you a flirty wink, that you ignore, of course.    Behind him is Jongin and Kyungsoo, who look like a couple but in reality are two best friends who have no boundaries.   They both glance at you but don't say much and follow behind Sehun to get some food.   You still stand there alone. You feel empty, in a way. It's always been this way. People look at you but they treat you as if you were invisible. You don't understand, what's so bad about you?    You're not even sure why you came to the cafeteria when you never eat lunch there. And when you do, you usually seat alone in the corner.    You glance at the table you usually seat at. You want to laugh at yourself. It's always empty, reserved for you.    Most students know you usually seat there on rare occasions and none of them dare to take the spot in case you choose to seat there that day. You don't know this, but people are a bit intimidated by you. And the last thing they want to do, is confront you in any manner that upsets you.    There's no way people mess with the Ice Princess.    The only times you have had lunch in the cafeteria was when you were really starving or when Chanyeol used to force you to. He used to pull you into the public place and force you to eat with him, while everyone else stared at the amazing fact that the Ice Princess wasn't sitting alone in her usual spot.    Chanyeol broke you out of your shy shell. Yet, at the end, he was the one to bury you in it again afterwards.        *****************************         You are heading towards the rooftop. The ultimate loner hot spot.   You've been hiding here since freshman year and until now. Last time you were here was after Chanyeol rejected you and you didn't want to be seen by him again, afraid that he'll see you alone while he was with Yuri.     But now you're back.         "Well, hello old friend," you smile as you open the door and fresh air hits your lungs.         "Hey!"    You jump back in surprise and almost have a heart attack. You fall on the floor and grab onto your chest, catching your breath.         "Did I scare you, supermodel?"    The girl laughs and clutches her side, "Oh god! You almost died! That was hilarious!"   You frown up at her, "What are you doing here?"         "Oh, !" She breathes, "Give me a second! God, that was funny."   It takes her a minute to calm down and you stand up once she has stop choking in laughter.        "Eunsul, how did you get here? Most people don't know this is an open area. How did you know how to get to the rooftop?" You ask because you're extremely curious. Most students think this place is off limits and some even think it doesn't exist. It is also really hard to find unless you have a lot of free time and are good with directions.         Eunsul smiles in slight amusement at your face, "I asked some kids for directions and they took me here. Gosh, people are so nice in this school."        "What kids?" You ask. Not a lot of people should know this place.    Eunsul makes a face as if she's thinking about it, "I don't know. There was three of them. They were handsome. One was called Teo or something and the other one was called... Bacon? I'm not sure, it sounded like bacon. The other one was really strict and asked me why I wanted to come here. He was the one that actually took me here because the other two didn't know. I think his name was Suho..."      "Of course," you sigh. Suho was class president. Of course he knew everything about the school.    Including the rooftop.       "What?" Eunsul says.   You shake your head, "You met Tao, Baekhyun and Suho, am I right?"       "That's the name!" Eunsul laughs, "I couldn't hear them well because they were attacking that tall and blond friend of yours."   You freeze.        "What? They were attacking Kris?" Your eyes widen. You expect that from baekhyun and Tao since they're immature, but not from Suho. Even when you've never spoken to them, from afar, they seemed nice.        "No, not that type of attack," Eunsul shakes her head, "They were forcing him to eat lunch with them. Kris said no but they insisted and he had to be forced. They left together after they dropped me off here by the staircase."   You laugh and let out a sigh of relieve. You're glad Kris managed to make friends. Not really a surprise, though.         "Why was he resisting, anyway?" You ask and walk towards the edge, leaning against the metal railing keeping you safe from a fall.    Eunsul follows along, stands next to you.       "I'm not sure. I think he was trying to find you since you walked away earlier," she says and reaches into her blazer pocket to pull something out.   You chuckle. Kris is stupid.    He did make you angry today, though. But now you're not that mad. Seems like your anger washed away.         "He kind of pissed me off today," you turn towards Eunsul and then no more words come out of your mouth. You're in shock.        "You smoke?" You point to the cigarette in .   The girl stares at you with a funny look in her face. She's amused by your reaction.   Great, you think. The first person you talk to in school, and she's a smoker. Great.         "It's fake," she says.   Your eyebrows furrow, "Huh?"   Eunsul chuckles, "It's candy. It's not a real cigarette."   You feel so relieved because you refuse to hang around with someone who smokes. You have a very sensitive nose and the smell makes you sick and so does the action itself. And you can't hang around smokers for longer than a second, you avoid them most of the time.        "It's a candy cigarette?" You repeat in surprise, "Why would you need that..."   Eunsul takes the candy out of , "Because it's fun and I actually really want to smoke but I can't.." She almost sounds sad and if you knew her better or were closer to her, you'd smack her like an angry mom.   But since you're barely strangers...        "Why can't you? Because you're in school grounds?"   Eunsul shakes her head again, "No, I have asthma. Can't do any form of damage to myself."   You nod in understanding and she then proudly shows you something in her hand besides the candy cigarette. It's an inhaler.       "If I get an asthma attack, which is not a lot since I haven't had one in years, I use this," she shakes the inhaler around and then puts it in her pocket.    You chuckle, "I'm glad you don't smoke."   Eunsul shrugs, "Most people are."   You don't say anything and just stare right ahead. It feels nice to have company in a place where you usually are alone.       "I really love rooftops," Eunsul says next to you, "I was happy to know this school has one available since most school have theirs locked just in case. I love fresh air, even just for a little while."   You nod, "Yeah, me too. I've come here since I was in my first year."   Eunsul turns to you, "Really? That's cool. We get along very well, you know?"   You nod with a small grin, "We do, I guess."   Eunsul eats the candy cigarette, "I'm hungry so I'm gonna go find me some food."   You wonder about asking her to come with you but retreat back at the last second. Luckily, Eunsul asks you first.       "Do you want to come along, supermodel?"         "Um, yeah," you say and you both exit the rooftop together. A big smile on your face as you walk.         ***************************************            "So you're Canadian, too?" Baekhyun asks.   Kris nods again, "That's why I have an English name also."   Tao claps like an excited seal, "You're so interesting! We will get along so well! Chinese friends forever!"   Kris is forced into a hug and he just wants to groan because he's not in the mood. Not when everyone is surrounding him like a paparazzi and he still has no idea where you've gone. It feels weird that he's worried but he can't help it. It's almost as if he's suddenly your big older brother and he has to know where you are.    Maybe you two spent too much time together and it has had an effect. A bad effect: Kris beginning to care.          "You're so handsome," A girl says behind him. It's kind of difficult to see who it was precisely. More people tell him things and he's beginning to feel suffocated. They're all surrounding him in the table. They're all asking him questions at the same time and Tao is still hugging him.        "I'm annoyed," He says because Kris has always been honest and straightforward when he wants. These people are no exception.        "You're right," Suho says and then he stands up, "Guys, can you leave Kris alone?"    The people boo at him but they leave with fake pouts and smiles. They all are just happy they got to know Kris a little. Since he's handsome and all, the students' curiosity are everywhere at the moment.    The crowd dispenses and Kris sighs in relief. Now only if Tao would stop hugging him...       "Yo